Okinawa-based Marine sentenced for solicitation, child pornography

CAMP FOSTER, Okinawa — An enlisted Marine was sentenced to six months in a military prison Feb. 1 on solicitation and child pornography charges.

Lance Cpl. Vincent Taman Jr. — a member of the 3rd Marine Division’s now deactivated combat assault battalion — was found guilty at a general court-martial of soliciting and receiving visual imagery of a 16-year-old engaged in sexually explicit conduct, according to 3rd Marine Division spokesman Capt. Gerard Farao. The images were sent and streamed via mobile phone applications.

The conduct occurred on Okinawa between Dec. 1, 2016 and Feb. 28, 2017, according to a copy of the charge sheet.

Taman was charged on Aug. 6, Farao said. The 22-year-old from El Paso, Texas, pleaded not guilty during a five-day court martial but was convicted of both charges by a jury.

Taman’s sentence also includes a letter of reprimand, a bad conduct discharge and lifetime registration as a sex offender. He will be reduced in rank to E-1 and his pay could be automatically forfeited.

He was being held in the Camp Hansen brig as of Monday.

“These violations of the Uniformed Code of Military Justice do not reflect the Marine Corps values of honor, courage and commitment and are not in keeping with the high standards of conduct to which we hold all our Marines,” Farao said in a statement.